After a two month-long hiatus, Real Time With Bill Maher returned to the airwaves Friday. This episode was true to form when it comes to Trump-bashing, with the eponymous host calling President Trump a “dangerous menace” and a “terrorist.”
Maher weighed in on the government shutdown. According to Maher, “Trump was very mad that he didn’t get his, you know, Lego wall set for Christmas.” Maher expressed his wish that “Democrats don’t cave” and argued that their position should be “Trump is holding this country hostage, you don’t deal with terrorists,” effectively comparing the President of the United States to a terrorist.
At the beginning of the show, Maher interviewed John Kasich; the former Republican Governor of Ohio who now works as a CNN Contributor.
Maher repeatedly tried to get Kasich, an outspoken Trump critic, to call the President a “dangerous menace.” Kasich refused to comply with Maher’s request but he did agree with Maher that “he’s doing some things that I think are dangerous.” Kasich repeatedly talked about how he did not endorse or vote for President Trump, in addition to talking about a “common sense gun control bill” that he tried and failed to pass during his tenure as Ohio Governor.
After hearing him talk about his unsuccessful attempt to pass gun control, Maher declared “And that is why I think you should run for President.” Kasich jokingly asked him “will you run my campaign?” Maher replied, “I will not run your campaign.” Maher implied that he wanted Kasich to run as a spoiler candidate in the 2020 Presidential Election:
Kasich responded to Maher’s request by declaring that he would not run unless he thought he could win. The interview concluded with Maher telling Kasich, “good luck with your campaign.” While 2020 buzz has surrounded Kasich for
